If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Why do console ports have always-on VoIP?

A lot of console ports of multiplayer games seem to have an always-on VoIP in multiplayer games and there's no way to turn it off. I'm wondering why is that? Do console games not have a push-to-talk functionality at all? How do they endure this...

I don't know. Port any console game to the PC and we start complaining that there isn't enough options to twiddle with, do the same in reverse and you'd better remove everything except "press start to start".

This. This is why in a lot of shooters we get a combined "Use" and "Pick up" key. So instead of disarming the enemy bomb, you just constantly swap guns back and forth with the corpse at your feet until you are killed.

"What were we talking about? Pegasuses, pegasii, that's horses with wings. This motherf*cker got a sword that talks to him. Motherf*cker live in places that don't exist, it comes with a map. My God."

Baffles me too. One round of playtesting 1 multiplayer map will show you what a huge problem this can be. Apparantly, they don't bother even though they go through a lot of effort to make the multiplayer function on the pc.

Baffles me too. One round of playtesting 1 multiplayer map will show you what a huge problem this can be. Apparantly, they don't bother even though they go through a lot of effort to make the multiplayer function on the pc.

You need a nice mic so that you can have your TV on loud while not actively on whim. Always annoying problem when I played MAG on PS3. Had to find the right volume. There was some sensitivity options but they did not seem to do as much as I would hope.

Dawn of War 2 has built in VoIP that is active by default. And this isn't even a console port. Most annoying thing ever. It was a pain to get it to turn off.

NS2 can be finicky with certain sound setups. I had sound mix on and it did not like that. It has no option to pick output/input source.

iron brigade had always on voip that was always on even when i didn't /have my mic plugged in/. it played back my speaker audio with a lovely echo on it for my co-op partners until i dug through the gfwl options to turn it off.

This is the exact reason why.
There aren't nearly enough buttons for gameplay (context sensitive actions galore on consoles because of this), let alone for things like a push to talk key.

Don't look for another reason, it's this simple.

They really need to add more buttons to future console controllers (plenty of room on the back for a few, kinda like the trigger on the n64 controller, but without giving you RSI) , would be step one to take gameplay out of the gutter on them.

You played Metro 2033? Tap flashlight button to turn flashlight on and off. Hold it for half a second to pull out the battery charger, and use attack button to charge, then hold the flashlight button again to put it back away.

It probably was only done because of limited number of keys on the pad, but it worked very well and was a very elegant and intuitive solution.